A Mermaid's Tale

A Personal Search for Love and Lore

Baker & TaylorAnalyzes the myth of the mermaid and its meaning across time and cultures, telling many mermaid stories and describing the author's lifelong interest in the topic.

Perseus Publishing

Elusive, seductive, otherworldly, the mermaid is one of the most resonant of female archetypes, persisting across cultures and eras. In this singular study, Amanda Adams uses poetic language and invokes a wide range of representations and disciplines ? from literature, poetry, and mythology to anthropology and folklore ? to reclaim this icon of female power for modern readers. Beginning with Melusina, the bathing mermaid par excellence, Adams describes the seductive sirens and their honeyed songs, the powerful Arctic sea goddess Sedna, and the long-haired rusalki of Russian lore, among other legendary mermaids. As she tells their stories, she considers the womanly, passionate, rage-filled, and seductively sweet sides of the mermaid and how those traits reflect the lives and moods of women who live on drier shores. In discovering mermaids and their stories, the author presents a striking narrative of uncovering the unusual, the beautiful, and the extraordinary in her own life.

Elusive, seductive, otherworldly, the mermaid is one of the most resonant of female archetypes, persisting across cultures and eras. In this singular study, Amanda Adams uses poetic language and invokes a wide range of representations and disciplines from literature, poetry, and mythology to anthropology and folklore to reclaim this icon of female power for modern readers. Beginning with Melusina, the bathing mermaid par excellence, Adams describes the seductive sirens and their honeyed songs, the powerful Arctic sea goddess Sedna, and the long-haired rusalki of Russian lore, among other legendary mermaids. As she tells their stories, she considers the womanly, passionate, rage-filled, and seductively sweet sides of the mermaid and how those traits reflect the lives and moods of women who live on drier shores. In discovering mermaids and their stories, the author presents a striking narrative of uncovering the unusual, the beautiful, and the extraordinary in her own life.

Reasearch Associates

Elusive, seductive, otherworldly, the mermaid is one of the most resonant of female archetypes, persisting across cultures and eras. In this singular study, Amanda Adams uses poetic language and invokes a wide range of representations and disciplines — from literature, poetry, and mythology to anthropology and folklore — to reclaim this icon of female power for modern readers. Beginning with Melusina, the bathing mermaid par excellence, Adams describes the seductive sirens and their honeyed songs, the powerful Arctic sea goddess Sedna, and the long-haired rusalki of Russian lore, among other legendary mermaids. As she tells their stories, she considers the womanly, passionate, rage-filled, and seductively sweet sides of the mermaid and how those traits reflect the lives and moods of women who live on drier shores. In discovering mermaids and their stories, the author presents a striking narrative of uncovering the unusual, the beautiful, and the extraordinary in her own life.

Blackwell North AmerFrom the seas of antiquity to the city streets of today, A Mermaid's Tale explores the myth and meanings of the mermaid. The book also takes us on a personal journey, as the author reflects on her life-long obsession with and passion for mermaidenry.Beginning with Melusina, the bathing mermaid par excellence, Amanda Adams goes on to describe the seductive sirens and their honeyed songs, the powerful Arctic sea goddess Sedna, the selkies who have lost their sealskins and settled into terrestrial marriages, and the long-haired rusalki of Russian lore, among other legendary mermaids. As she tells their stories, Adams also expresses a love of the mermaid that surely no sea-bound sailor could ever match. Grounded in cultural anthropology, folklore studies, and intellectual rigor, A Mermaid's Tale also draws on literature, poetry, and mythology for its insights.